Civil Engineers Working To Ease Shortage In Field

December 08, 1991|By New York Times News Service.

Even though engineers have been trying to interest students in their profession, the National Science Foundation estimates that the shortage of engineers in the United States will reach 70,000 by 2010.

James E. Sawyer, president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, wants to attract more people to engineering. His organization is active in a campaign by 32 large engineering societies to reach teachers at 127,000 schools with brochures, personal visits and talks.

``We`re trying to let young people know about the fun of solving engineering problems,`` he said. ``We visit preschools and high schools. We have open houses for youngsters.``

The aim of the campaign is to inform teachers about job opportunities in engineering so they can encourage students to take more interest in mathematics and science. These courses are basic to the engineering profession, Sawyer says, and students must make a commitment to them by age 14 to meet entrance requirements for engineering schools.

Sawyer became interested in engineering at an early age, when he worked at his father`s building company in Albany, Ga. He later received bachelor`s and master`s degrees from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

He now is chief operating officer of Greiner Engineering Inc. in Dallas. Many companies, including Sawyer`s, offer scholarships and summer jobs to prospective engineers and have tuition-refund plans for master`s degrees.

Sawyer recommends that five-year college programs be established for engineers. Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H., has a five-year plan, but few other colleges do because most engineers want to graduate as quickly as possible, find well-paid jobs and pay back loans. Their companies often send them to get their master`s degrees.

John L. Niklaus, head of the civil engineering department at Tulane University in New Orleans, says the shortage of civil engineers is a problem because it`s occurring at a time of increasing need.

``There`s a lot of civil engineering activity now in two areas-transportation, which includes roads, bridges and transit systems, and the environment, which includes waste management and hazardous-waste disposal,``

he said.

Niklaus says engineering students are especially interested in the environmental field.

``At Tulane,`` he said, ``we have quite a few petroleum and chemical engineers taking graduate work in environmental courses in our civil engineering department in order to earn master`s degrees.``